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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25120015">We All Have A Hunger</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poemsingreenink/pseuds/Poemsingreenink'>Poemsingreenink</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Bind My Wings (Then Set Me Free) [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mulan (2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dubious Consent, F/F, Lust, Sex Dreams, Terrible Choices, xena levels of historical accuracy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 08:55:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,449</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25120015</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poemsingreenink/pseuds/Poemsingreenink</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Mulan meets Xian Lang, the Fairy Wolf, in the midst of battle. It's not the last place she sees her.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Fa Mulan/Xian Lang (Disney)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Bind My Wings (Then Set Me Free) [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1869976</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>176</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>We All Have A Hunger</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first time Mulan saw Xian Lang, the witch was laying waste to an entire battalion of soldiers.</p><p> </p><p>The screams of the wounded filled her ears, and her uniform was stained dark with blood from the injuries of men who only yesterday she'd laughed and eaten with. The stench of ash, smoke and burning flesh made her eyes water, and the air was filled with a terror so thick Mulan would have sworn she could taste it. Would have stood in front of the Emperor himself and testified that pure chaos tasted like copper on a soldier’s tongue. Later, she’d understand that was because she’d bitten the inside of her cheek, and more places than just her uniform were soaked in blood. </p><p> </p><p>Xian Lang was a wave of madness and grace as she moved across the field. She was a monstrous ocean, drowning those who dove for her, and dragging back those who tried to escape her tide.</p><p> </p><p>Endless hours of training were all that kept Mulan from being struck dumb at the sight of the witch, but as she advanced she couldn’t help but hear the words from the Matchmaker float to the surface of her mind; <em>Quiet, demure, polite, delicate, refined, poised. Fulfill your duties calmly and respectfully. Reflect before you act. This shall bring you honor and glory.</em></p><p> </p><p>A wagon full of supplies went up in a fire ball, and the horses screamed as they tried to escape. Xian Lang barely glanced at the carnage. A solider attacked her from the left only to find himself twisted in the long, pale silk of her sleeve. She broke his neck and dropped his body to the muddy ground as another solider rushed her with sword raised. This one found her talons embedded in his gut, and she left him to die screaming on the grass. </p><p> </p><p>Xian Lang was merciless, and marvelous and heading right for Mulan.</p><p> </p><p>She did not rush the witch. She stood her ground, sword at the ready, and only when the bellow from her commanding officer hit the air did she attack, and attack without remorse. Marvel or not Xian Lang was her enemy, and the rules of war were simple and merciless.</p><p> </p><p>It was a short attack.</p><p> </p><p>The silk sleeve snapped through the air, and wrapped itself around Mulan’s wrist. It dragged her forward with a speed that pulled her off her feet, and caused her sword to slip through her fingers and drop to the ground.  </p><p> </p><p>She expected to be impaled on Xian Lang’s talons, and was surprised when a human hand closed around her hip.</p><p> </p><p>“Hello,” Xian Lang said, mouth curving into hungry smile.</p><p> </p><p>The witch’s eyes were not the blood red of a demon, but the dark brown of wet earth. Like what her sister would till in her family’s vegetable garden the day after a spring rain. There was a strip of white painted over them like a death banner, and they drank Mulan in, darting from her face to her shoulder, from her shoulder to her feet and then back again. As though she were tracking the movements of a rather drunk butterfly.</p><p> </p><p>Around them men screamed and armies collided, but Mulan’s attention was fixed only on Xian Lang. She was a moth who’d fluttered too near the flame, and was about to being incinerated by the heat. With her free hand Mulan grabbed the witch by the throat. It was a weak grip, but Mulan dug her thumbnail into the skin trying desperately to draw blood. To leave some mark on the force of nature that held her before it snuffed out her life.</p><p> </p><p>The witch grinned with straight white teeth, and chuckled.</p><p> </p><p>“We should talk. Let’s find one another again when I’m less distracted,” Xian Lang said, and then threw her into the air.</p><p> </p><p>Mulan hit the ground face first. She heard a crack like thunder, and then there was nothing. As though she’d been thrown overboard and left to drown in the dark ocean.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Mulan learned the witch’s name that night; Xian Lang. Fairy Wolf. Delicate and terrible. A beautiful horror. Silk-wrapped death. Before the battle, when rumor of an enchantress in Bori Kahn’s army had reached them the soldiers had said her name with lust and with laughter.</p><p> </p><p>“One good poke from me, and I’ll send her crying home to her mama!” One man had smirked, and how the rest of them had laughed.</p><p> </p><p>Mulan hadn't laughed.</p><p> </p><p>Now, what was left of her platoon cowered around campfires, and whispered Xian Lang's name in choked terror. They nursed bruises and cuts, wept over missing limbs, wrapped fire burnt skin, and shared all the ways the witch could destroy a man.</p><p> </p><p>Just her touch would make a man sterile and useless to a wife. Her talons could pluck a man’s soul from his chest. Her breath could cause a man to wet himself. She ate hearts, and wore the ears of the fallen on a chord around her neck. She could slide into dreams and drive a man mad.</p><p> </p><p>Mulan packed snow around her broken nose and swollen cheeks, and ignored them.</p><p> </p><p>That night, she joined Li Shang in sword practice, and drilled until her arms became clumsy with exhaustion. When her sword dropped from her numbed fingers for what felt like the hundredth time, a hand fell onto her shoulder. </p><p> </p><p>"You've done well today, Hua Jin," Li Shang said, his gaze steady, and clear. His hand was large, encompassing her entire shoulder. </p><p> </p><p>It felt good to have someone touch her kindly, and to her embarrassment she found herself wishing she could nuzzle her face against Li Shang's hand. Taste the bloodied knuckles, make her way to the wrist and kiss the thumping pulse she knew she'd find there.</p><p> </p><p>The mortification that followed the desire kept her silent, but she managed what she hoped was a respectful nod.</p><p> </p><p>Li Shang smiled, "Get some rest."</p><p> </p><p>Unlike her comrades who shivered through nightmares well into the daylight, Mulan slept well.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The next time she met the witch, the seasons had changed from a cold winter to a chilled spring, and they were alone in the forest.</p><p> </p><p>Out of the corner of her eye, Mulan would occasionally glimpse a flash of red or gold. The uniforms of her fellow soldiers (Because what else could it have been?), and while she couldn't race to help them, knowing they were so near brought her comfort.</p><p> </p><p>If she hadn't been so focused on keeping Xian Lang from disemboweling her, Mulan would have noticed that the shouts and sword play that accompany small skirmishes were missing. She might have been surprised at how bright the colors on the uniforms were after all these months of marching. She might even have noticed the uniform's strange feathered texture, but she was busy and saw only Xian Lang.</p><p> </p><p>“Do your comrades know you’re a woman?”</p><p> </p><p>Mulan didn’t falter at the words. The extra training with Li Shang kept her weapon in her hand, and her mind on the task, but the blow had still landed. The panic felt distant, but the unexpected realization that Xian Lang knew her most precious secret had still woken it up. She lunged for Xian Lang’s chest only to have her sword swatted away like Xian Lang was a cat playing with a rather irritating piece of string. Mulan darted left, and the witch pursued.  </p><p> </p><p>“I can’t blame you for the secret,” Xian Lang said. “I have no illusions about what dishonor your army would inflict upon me if they caught me alone.”</p><p> </p><p>Her silk sleeve unfurled, and snapped through the air like a striking viper. Mulan pivoted, and her sword sliced through the fabric. The surprise on Xian Lang’s face as the square of silk fluttered to the ground lasted less than a second, but that second was all Mulan needed and she rushed the other woman shoving her back against a tree.</p><p> </p><p>The witch was wrong. She had to be. Li Shang would never allow such a thing. Not to an enemy. Not to a witch. Not to a friend who'd broken the rules of both Heaven and Earth, and been lying through her teeth for months.</p><p> </p><p>Mulan’s sword rested against Xian Lang’s throat just as the witch’s talons cut through her chest armor and tunic. Mulan hissed as they scratched across her stomach, opening what she hoped were shallow wounds.</p><p> </p><p>“To be fair, my men would inflict that same dishonor on you if they discovered this on the battlefield. Very few armies are as noble as they like to believe," Xian Lang said, smoothly. "Tell you what, let’s keep this a secret just between you and me. A secret is so much more fun when you have a friend to share it with, don’t you think?”</p><p> </p><p>Mulan’s muscles screamed as she kept the sword pressed to the witch’s throat, and her breathing was hard. Xian Lang’s chest heaved as well, and while her breath misted in the chilled air it was warm against Mulan’s cheek. Close enough that their breaths mingled together. She was close enough to bite.   </p><p> </p><p>Xian Lang's eyes were dark, and they watched Mulan with a thoughtful, calm expression. As though there were friends pausing to have a chat in the marketplace. As thought Xian Lang weren't inches away from pulling Mulan's guts into the open air, and Mulan wasn't about to paint the forest floor with Xian Lang's blood.</p><p> </p><p>There was a flash of red and gold in the corner of Mulan’s eye, but she didn’t dare move.</p><p> </p><p>“I have her!” Mulan called, relief flooding through her. “Bring rope, and quick!”</p><p> </p><p>There was no answer. No footfalls or clank of armor. Just her own heavy breathing, and the curl of Xian Lang’s lip. The maddening stretch of lip that made Mulan flush hot and then cold at the sight of it.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you talking to the wind?” Xian Lang asked. “What else are you that you think to call to the wind to bring you rope?”</p><p> </p><p>Confused, Mulan turned away a move that shattered the thick fog of tension hanging between them. Her eyes darted from one barren tree trunk to the next. They were alone. There were no reinforcements rushing to her aid.</p><p> </p><p>"What?"</p><p> </p><p>Xian Lang threw herself forward, and for one slow second Mulan was sure the woman was sacrificing her throat to the blade.</p><p> </p><p>Mulan's wrist dropped, fast enough that it missed the skin, and instead scrapped along the other woman's daggered chest plate. Xian Lang fell forward, transforming into a mess of silk and feathers that Mulan tried to scramble away from. Xian Lang's cheek brushed past her own as she took to the air, her soft skin and softer feathers touching Mulan gently before a screaming hawk took the place of the smirking woman, and disappeared into the cloudless sky.</p><p> </p><p>Mulan stood on the frozen earth, panting hard and watching in shock as Xian Lang became a small black speck. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears, and it was growing louder and faster with every breath she tried to take. </p><p> </p><p>No matter what else was said about the witch the commanders knew she was Bori Kahn's powerful right hand, and that her death would weaken their enemy's defenses. If handled correctly, putting the witch in the ground would shorten the war and send them all home.</p><p> </p><p>But Mulan had dropped her wrist, and Xian Lang had escaped.</p><p> </p><p>She put her sword in her belt, her head in her hands, and she wept.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>That night Mulan finally dreamed of Xian Lang.</p><p> </p><p>In the dream she was back at the Matchmaker’s home, but she was seated at the table in her uniform. Fire snapped and crackled under the floor, occasionally managing to crawl out between the boards and make a lazy climb up the wooden table legs.</p><p> </p><p>She was boiling under her armor, and she desperately wanted to remove it, but here in the dream she didn't seem to know how. Mulan laid her sword on the table, and tried to swipe the sweat from her eyes. Her hand came back covered in the white face paint and red lip stain her mother had helped her apply so long ago. It was running off her face, and dripping into the tea cup creating a swirling mass of dizzy color. She looked up to apologize, but the Matchmaker was gone.</p><p> </p><p>In her place was Xian Lang who reached across the table, and cupped her chin in her taloned hand. Her thumb brushed against Mulan’s cheek, removing more of the make-up with each flick of her finger.</p><p> </p><p>"What else are you?" asked the witch, but it was Li Shang's voice that slid from her throat. "That you think to call to the wind to bring you rope?”</p><p> </p><p>Mulan woke up disoriented and hot. Her heart beating hard in her chest, and her cunt warm and slick.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The war continued. Mulan turned seventeen, then eighteen, and the war continued. She drilled in the night with Li Shang until her arms grew hard with muscle, and the war continued. The commander claimed they were pushing the enemy back, and Mulan lost more comrades than she thought her heart could handle, but still the war continued.</p><p> </p><p>Through it all was Xian Lang. Xian Lang fighting on the other side of the battlefield. Xian Lang the only spot of grace amid the chaos of war. Xian Lang nothing more than a small glint of copper against the sky as she flew, and while the witch never approached Mulan again she could feel her gaze. Mulan always made sure to glare right back. What right did the witch have to look at her without reproach?</p><p> </p><p>How she wanted Xian Lang to approach. Willed it with every bone in her body. If she could draw her near then Mulan would finish what they'd started in the woods, and before she delivered the final blow she would make Xian Lang remove the spell she'd cast on her mind.</p><p> </p><p>Because much like the war, the dreams also continued. </p><p> </p><p>In one, she was back in the woods, but the Matchmaker’s table was situated on the grass and it was surrounded by steaming bowls of rice. The scrap of silk Mulan had cut from Xian Lang's sleeves had grown to a size that could drape across the entire table, and Mulan was seated atop it with Xian Lang straddled her legs. The weight of the other woman on Mulan's lap made her cunt fill with liquid warmth.</p><p> </p><p>The witch's fingers lazily circled the leather knots that kept the plates of iron covering Mulan's shoulders connected to her chest plate, but Mulan's own hand was wrapped around the other woman's throat. It never stayed put though. Never attempted to squeeze the breath from Xian Lang's body. It was far more interested in sliding down her chest, and opening the other woman's robes.</p><p> </p><p>Piece-by-piece Mulan exposed Xian Lang’s body as Xian Lang undid knots with nimble fingers, and turned all of Mulan’s beautifully crafted armor into nothing but scraps of abandoned metal.  Mulan nuzzled her way up the smooth belly, and kissed between Xian Lang's breasts. She scrapped her teeth across the soft nipples, and then her head was yanked back as the witch pulled hard on her top knot.</p><p> </p><p>Xian Lang leaned close, her lips hovered just above Mulan's as their breath mingled. She could feel Xian Lang's talons comb through the dark triangle of hair between her legs. The air between them created silver clouds of cold mist that twisted and whirled, transforming into a hawk, then a phoenix and back to a hawk before evaporating.</p><p> </p><p>The talons disappeared, replaced with the long fingers of a human woman just as they dipped inside Mulan's soft folds, and Mulan kicked out. Her foot connected with one of the bowls of rice that had been waiting for her at the end of the table, and the dish shattered as though it had been dropped upon stone. Bits of jagged porcelain were hidden in the grass, and the grains of rice that scattered across the forest floor were the bright red of crushed cherries.</p><p> </p><p>"Are you talking to the wind?" Xian Lang asked, and her teeth sank into Mulan's throat.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>It was late, and Li Shang was injured. A torn muscle in his shoulder that would keep him out of combat until it healed properly. </p><p> </p><p>"Don't worry," Li Shang said, a wry smile on his face. "There are other things we can do tonight."</p><p> </p><p>The image of Xian Lang, her mouth curved into a smirk, flashed through Mulan's mind. </p><p> </p><p>"There are?" Mulan squeaked, and then flushed. Her voice hadn't sounded that high pitched since her first day of training.</p><p> </p><p>"There are always things we can do to strengthen our bodies and minds," Li Shang said with a serious nod.</p><p> </p><p>He sank carefully to the ground, sitting on the packed earth, and positioned his un-bandaged arm so his hand rested on his knee.</p><p> </p><p>"Sit near me, Hua Jin. Tonight we quiet our minds, and we meditate."</p><p> </p><p>He smiled at her. "You'll of course still practice your sword work on your own time."</p><p> </p><p>It wasn't a question, but it also wasn't entirely an order and Mulan practically fell over herself getting into a sitting position. "Of course! Of course, sir!"</p><p> </p><p>Meditation did not go well. Food had been growing scarce, and her stomach growled, but more than that Li Shang's knees were just a hair's distance away from her own, and she could feel his own natural warmth rolling off his body.</p><p> </p><p>It was worse with closed eyes. Her body reached for his without her consent, and her mind grabbed onto the man's slow, even breath, and would focus on nothing else. Her hand wanted to rest itself on his rising and falling chest. Feel the thump of the heart that was under the skin, and press her body against his own. Climb into his lap so she could trace the lines on his face as they mingled their warmth.</p><p> </p><p>She would take a quick peek at him. A look that would last no longer than three breaths, and then she would go right back to quieting her mind as Li Shang had ordered.</p><p> </p><p>She opened her eyes and froze.</p><p> </p><p>Li Shang had not closed his eyes. Li Shang's breath was deep and steady, but his eyes were open and gazing at her. Her heart thumped rabbit quick in her chest, and the heat through her body pooled in her cunt.</p><p> </p><p>Li Shang flushed, and quickly shut his eyes. Mulan did the same.</p><p> </p><p>They continued to meditate and did not speak of it.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Later, as she tugged the flap of her tent open Mulan felt heady and bright. As though she had been handed a star, and though its light might dim and dissolve by the next morning for this night it was hers to cherish. She was so swallowed up by these new feelings, that she didn’t notice Xian Lang until the other woman spoke.</p><p> </p><p>“I thought sneaking into your tent would be difficult. It wasn’t.”</p><p> </p><p>Mulan jumped, and her hand fell to her sword as her body transforming from the loose, happy creature she’d been a moment ago to the tense warrior she’d trained and sculpted herself into these past few years.</p><p> </p><p>A flame snapped to life in the darkness.  </p><p> </p><p>“It’s all the way in the back of the camp. Practically inside the tree line. It’s almost like you want a secret nighttime visitor.”</p><p> </p><p>Xian Lang was sitting cross-legged in the middle of Mulan’s bed role. Her face glowed under the thick white candle she held, and there was a steaming bowl of food next to her that made Mulan’s mouth water even as she prepared to chop off the other woman’s head.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not very safe,” Xian Lang continued. “Though I suppose it helps since you need to slink off whenever you want to bath or pee. Seems like an awful amount of work. My men know that if they ever bothered me while I was bathing or peeing I’d rip their still beating hearts from their chests.”</p><p> </p><p>Mulan darted forward, stopping only when the tip of her sword was pressed against Xian Lang’s throat. A bead of blood darkened the point of the weapon, and then rolled down Xian Lang’s flesh. The witch’s eyes went wide in surprise, and then the expression molded itself into something that Mulan would have said was pride if that wasn’t absurd.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re faster than you were before,” she said. Her breath made the candlelight flicker and dance, and in-between that breath of a moment Xian Lang disappeared from her spot on the ground. She appeared behind Mulan, and her hand slammed over her mouth as Mulan gave a muffled cry. Five talons dug into her throat, breaking the skin and the smell of blood hit the air.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m faster too,” she hissed into her ear.</p><p> </p><p>Mulan’s breath came hard and fast. She was going to die in her tent all because she’d been too stupid to finish the job back in the woods. Xian Lang would rip her throat out, and leave her to bleed atop her blankets and she could blame no one but herself.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ve come to talk to you,” Xian Lang said. “If you think you can hold a conversation with me like an adult I’ll let you go. I won’t even make you give up your sword. If you yell, or try to kill me again, I’ll be forced to pull that pretty tongue out of your mouth, and that would upset me because that means you won’t be able to enjoy my gift. Do we have an agreement?”</p><p> </p><p>Mulan nodded. She needed time and distance between herself and the witch. Agreeing to this strange request gave her both.</p><p> </p><p>Xian Lang released her. “Good.”</p><p> </p><p>She went back to Mulan’s bedroll, and sank gracefully to the ground. Kneeling now, she even smiled as the shadows and light chased themselves across her face.</p><p> </p><p>“Sit,” she ordered.</p><p> </p><p>And Mulan obeyed.</p><p> </p><p>“Now, you’ve been a very ungracious host,” Xian Lang said.</p><p> </p><p>“You are an uninvited guest,” Mulan snapped.</p><p> </p><p>“True,” Xian Lang said. “And that's the only reason I’m not going to make you wait for this.”</p><p> </p><p>The bowl Xian Lang set in front of her was made of delicate white porcelain cut through with gold. The chopsticks laid across the top had clearly been made to accompany it as they were also crafted from the same metal.</p><p> </p><p><em>Delicate</em>, Mulan thought. <em>Expensive, and out of place here.</em></p><p>
  
</p><p>She didn't have long to examine these observations because what was inside the bowl was a sight so beautiful Mulan almost wept; thick pieces of pork rested atop a cloud of fluffy rice all accompanied by vegetables bright as polished jewels.</p><p> </p><p>The army's rations had gotten thinner every week, and Mulan had been marching and fighting with a belly that screamed with a hunger so desperate that it sometimes woke her in the night. </p><p> </p><p>“Where did you get this?” Mulan asked, though she was ashamed at how soft her tone was now. How hungry. “This can’t be yours.”</p><p> </p><p>Xian Lang didn’t answer, but she reached over and plucked a piece of pork out of the bowl with her fingers before popping it into her mouth and chewing. It left a streak of juice across her mouth, and Mulan’s gaze caught on its location the way her jagged fingernails had once caught on the silk of her hanfu.</p><p> </p><p>“In case you were worried about poison,” Xian Lang said. “I wouldn’t waste poison on you, but how could you be expected to know that?”</p><p> </p><p>Mulan hadn’t been thinking about poison. Her thoughts were a screaming chorus of hungers, and her body wanted so badly that she could barely decide what to do with this bowl of rich food let alone think about what else might have been done to it.</p><p> </p><p>“Would it make you feel better if I said I stole it from a rich man who routinely beats his wife, and starves those servants under his care?” </p><p> </p><p>“Is that true?” Mulan asked.</p><p> </p><p>“No,” Xian Lang said. “But either this meal goes to waste or you eat it. I just wanted to see if a pretty lie would make you feel more comfortable with my gift.”</p><p> </p><p>“It doesn't,” Mulan said and picked up the chop sticks. </p><p> </p><p>She ate silently. Not able to look at the witch as she forced herself to chew not simply inhale her meal. When she was done her belly felt pleasantly full, and the persistent headache that had been her companion for weeks was gone. </p><p> </p><p>"Good?" Xian Lang asked.</p><p> </p><p>She should have felt shame. Wanted to feel shame, but her body felt whole and sated for the first time in weeks, and the emotion slipped thorough her fingers like water.</p><p> </p><p>"Yes."</p><p> </p><p>"Good," Xian Lang said. "I'm glad to hear it. How is war going?”</p><p> </p><p>Mulan gently put the bowl back on the ground between them. If the witch had come here to trade food for military intelligence she wouldn't succeed. Mulan would make sure of that.</p><p> </p><p>“The war is-”</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t say this war,” Xian Lang said. “I asked about <em>war</em>. It’s your first one, right? Is it everything you were promised it would be?”</p><p> </p><p>The day before, Mulan had assisted in the medical tent. Carrying water in and slop buckets out for hours as men died all around her. They wept from the pain that no one could stop. They called for their mothers and sisters in terror, and screamed as legs and arms were amputated. She’d been helpless in the face of such suffering. Unable to stop any of it. They'd come from a battle where a village had been caught in the crossfire between the two armies, and the corpses of the men, women and children who had been unable to escape in time filled her vision when she closed her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>"It’s ugly,” Mulan finally said.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, they never tell you about all the dead babies when they start singing about war do they?” Xian Lang asked. “Or at least I’ve never heard a song titled “All The Pregnant Women Who Died In The Fire’. They leave all that out. Even where I'm from.”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re the ones starting the fires!” Mulan said. “You are the ones who invaded us! You are the reason for this terror”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes,” Xian Lang said. “And I take some responsibility for that, but you can’t honestly tell me that there isn't responsibility to go around. All the ugliness of war doesn't just come from my side. You haven’t notice that when your army appears in a town suddenly that town has no chickens for its residents. No pigs. No cows. Barely any crops to get through the winter. The army is a great beast that demands to be fed.”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not the same!" Mulan said, almost speechless with the implication. "It’s a sacrifice yes, but it's done for their sons, their husbands and their country. A sacrifice they wouldn’t need to make if you and your army hadn’t started this!”</p><p> </p><p>Xian Lang smiled at that. Amused and fond. "You are very young."</p><p> </p><p>"I'm am a grown woman and a warrior."</p><p> </p><p>"You can be all of those things at the same time," Xian Lang said. "But you’re also right. War is ugly, cruel and painful. War demands sacrifice. I imagine you've already given this war a lot, but what if I said if you made one more sacrifice you could make it stop?”</p><p> </p><p>“What? What are you talking about?”</p><p> </p><p>"I apologize, I don't mean stop 'war'. My abilities do have limits," Xian Lang said. "This time I am talking about this war. What if you could make <em>this</em> war stop?"</p><p> </p><p>The doll Mulan had found in the wreckage of the village had been so light she'd worried the wind might take it away on its next current. It had been burnt at the edges, soot staining its face and dress. She'd thought to give it back to the child it belonged to until she found out there was no one alive to collect it.</p><p> </p><p>"How would I do that?" she asked.</p><p> </p><p>“I am willing to offer a trade," Xian Lang said. "If you agree to the trade tonight then tomorrow Bori Kahn, myself, and the great army from the North will leave China in peace.”</p><p> </p><p>“What do you want?” Mulan asked, and gripped her sword tightly in her hand.</p><p> </p><p>She could fix this. She was being given the chance to fix all of this, and she would do this whatever it was.  </p><p> </p><p>“I want you to come with me,” Xian Lang said.</p><p> </p><p>“You-what?” Mulan asked. “Why?”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re interesting,” Xian Lang said. “You haven't realized it yet, but you're very unique. I've traveled quite a lot in my life, and I've never seen someone quite like you." The witch leaned forward, and Mulan worried that the other woman's robes would catch fire as she hovered over the candle flame, but then her vision was full of nothing but Xian Lang's face. "I also know you want things. Things you probably can’t even name yet, but that have been scratching at the walls of your heart with hunger for years.”</p><p> </p><p>“I don't,” Mulan said, voice whisper soft, but the dreams were beginning to surface in her mind. Her mouth on Xian Lang’s breasts. Xian Lang’s fingers dipping inside of her body, and the way her cunt was sopping wet by morning.</p><p> </p><p>“Come with me,” Xian Lang said, her dark eyes sparkling like pieces of jet. “Live in my tent, share my bed, be under my care, and I will never lie to you. Let me share my body with you, and I’ll give you things you’d never dreamed to ask for. Share your body with me, and I’ll satisfy craving you’ve never knew you had.” She smirked, “And all of that will be on top of saving your country from ugly death and pain.”</p><p> </p><p>Xian Lang still had the streak of juice along her cheek.</p><p> </p><p><em>Lick it off</em>  Mulan's mind insisted. <em>See how she tastes. I bet her cheek is soft.</em></p><p>
  
</p><p>Mulan closed her eyes. “I’ll do this under one condition.”</p><p> </p><p>“Name your price.”</p><p> </p><p>She took deep, calming breaths. The kind that Li Shang had taught her, and the kind that were supposed to clear her mind, and then opened her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“You'll stop the dreams. You’ll send me no more.”</p><p> </p><p>Xian Lang blinked. “Dreams? I don't send dreams.”</p><p> </p><p>“You do!” Mulan insisted. "If I'm to do this I want to do it with a clear mind. I want my body to respond to desires that are only mine. I don't want my vision clouded by your magic. I know you can send dreams, the kind that drive men mad, and I know you've been sending them to me."</p><p> </p><p>Xian Lang pulled away slowly, and seated herself safely back where the candle flame couldn't scorch her clothing.</p><p> </p><p>“Your thoughts are your own,” Xian Lang said. “That kind of power has never been mine to command. It's a shame, because you're right. If I possessed the ability to enter men’s minds I'd use it all the time. Why waste time on a war if I could have woven terrors for your Emperor to suffer through while he slept?”</p><p> </p><p>“No,” Mulan said. “That can’t be true! Since the woods I’ve dreamed of you. Almost every night you are in my thoughts. I'm not a fool."</p><p> </p><p>Her hands darted across the space, and grabbed both of Xian Lang's. The candle flame burned hot under their entwined fingers, and the trails of wax that rolled down its sides created an ever growing pool of white wet on Mulan's bed roll.</p><p> </p><p>"Swear to me that your magic will stay out of my mind and you can have my body. Your promise of honesty may be a lie, but I will come with you. I will do as you say.”</p><p> </p><p>Xian Lang was frozen in shock. Her eyes staring at their joint hands above the flame, and then slowly like a flower breaking through the last winter frost, she looked up and delight blossomed across her face.</p><p> </p><p>“Tell me your real name,” Xian Lang said. “And I will swear a thousand times over if that’s what you want. None of my magic will ever cloud your mind.”</p><p> </p><p>Mulan squeezed the other woman's hands. “Hua Mulan. My name is Hua Mulan.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hua Mulan,” Xian Lang said, tasting the name in her mouth. “My sweet, brave girl. More beautiful than the fullest, brightest moon. What fun we’re going to have.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>-Thank you so much to Lazaefair who talked so much of this idea out with me, read the first sex scene I ever wrote and is also writing for this pairing! Go read her Mulan/Xian Lang fic Prize: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24048430</p><p>-The 2020 Disney film, and I believe most of the stories use "Hua Mulan" (which I used in the fic), but for some reason the only pairing option was "Fa Mulan". </p><p>-This verse is a mix of the 2020 Live Action Disney Mulan movie (that has yet to been released), and the 1998 Disney Mulan.....just with a much higher rating. </p><p>-"Xena levels of historical accuracy"...Don't make me tap the tag.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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